Pinotti Power File: Tour of Missouri Stage 2

Marco Pinotti

Marco Pinotti continued to be a team player for Columbia in Missouri as his teammate, Mark Cavendish, continued his winning ways. Stage 2 was the longest stage of this year's Tour of Missouri, with a 126 mile race between Clinton and Springfield, Missouri. As usual on these long flat days in the saddle, a breakaway cruised up the road to gain some valued television time; however, the field showed its determination by reeling in the break as the finish line neared.

Marco had a relatively easy day in the saddle, even though it was a long 5-hour stage. Marco's SRM file can be seen and downloaded here to be viewed within TrainingPeaks WKO+. He averaged a very manageable 210 watts for five hours, given that we have seen Marco average 275w for five hours within the Fleche Wallone Classic in Belgium earlier this season. Marco's maximum five-minute value on stage two was a comfortable 385w (compared to a max five minutes of 427w on stage 1) in the final 2.5 miles of the stage.

Stage 2 Results

1 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Team Columbia 4.53.19
2 Eric Baumann (Ger) Team Sparkasse
3 Francesco Chicchi (Ita) Liquigas

Stage 3 Branson, Individual Time Trial, 18 miles

Marco explained his frustration with losing nearly four minutes in stage three: "Today was really bad luck for me. I flatted my rear tire at 3 kms. Then with the new bike, the wheel was touching the rear brake and I could not make it any wider. I'll be better in the coming days."

Stage 3 Results:
1 Christian Vande Velde (USA) Team Garmin-Chipotle p/b H30 39.52 (43.663 km/h)
2 Michael Rogers (Aus) Team Columbia 0.21
3 Svein Tuft (Can) Symmetrics Cycling Team 0.32
4 George Hincapie (USA) Team Columbia 1.03

TrainingPeaks caught up with Pinotti after Stage 3 for a quick interview. Watch it here.